Press-plate for copying-books



(NOMOdel.)

H. M. UNDERWOOD. PRESS PLATE POR COPYING BOOKS.

NO. 441,261. n Patented NOV. 25. 1890.

@may cofulccm UNITED STATES PATENT UFEICE.

HENRY M. UNDERIVOOD, OF WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS.

PRESS-PLATE FOR COPYING-BOOKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.441,261, dated November 25, 1890.

v Application iled June 16, 1888. Serial No. 277,701. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-A

Beit known that I, HENRY M. UNDEEwooD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waukegan, in the county of Lake and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Y Press-Plates for Copying-Books, of which the following is a specification, by means of which and the accompanying drawings others skilled in the art to which the improvement appertains may be able to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in what I designate press-plates to be used in copying-books, whereby an ordinary copyingbook can receive, transferred by pressure upon its pages, copies of written and printed matter for preservation Without the aid of the cumbersome, stationary, and much more expensive screw or lever press common in commercial usage; and the invention is closely allied in its principle and mode of operation with my improvement in letter-copying books and presses, the subject-matter of Patent No. 385,433, dated July 3, 1888.

My invention consists of rigid metallic plates having one side, adjacent to the sheet being copied, slightly raised from a plane at or near its center. As being curved or bent outward or in other like form, such plates being used singly or in pairs, and being of about the size of the page of the copying-book, and further serving the purpose of the oil-board or other water-proof sheets of common usage, and in the manner more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows a letter-copying book with the plates properly inserted. Fig. 2 shows a section of the plates, the leaf of the book, and the sheet to be copied, as the same would appear in Fig. l when the book is closed and on the line x of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 shows a central section-of the plate B of Fig. l in the direction of y y.

Similar letters and iigures in the different drawings indicate like parts.

In Fig. 1 the plates A and B are shown loosely placed in the book C and as they appear when the book is opened after the operation of copying the matter written on the sheet that lies upon the plate B, as hereinafter described. Each of these plates A and B is rigid, and each of them has a face slightly curved, crowning, orbent outward toward its fellow plate. Each of them is quite thin even at its thickest portion at or near its center, and at its edges is reduced almost to a sharp edge. It is necessary that these plates be thin; that they do not strain the binding of the book in operation; that they maintainrigidly their form, remaining uninjured from dampness,

while they also take the place of the oil-board or like water-proof sheets of common usage. I construct them of metal, and at the same time, desiring them to be of as light weight as possible, I construct them as is more particularly shown in Fig. 3, wherein is shown acentral section of plate B in the direction y ly, Fig. l. The plane face of plate B, I make of thin sheet metal l, turned up at the ends to form the ends ofplate B, integral with sheet 1. Between these ends, and filling the space, I

place a layer of Wood strips formed on the curve desired of the plate, and having the grain of the wood running in the direction of the curve. I then iit a second sheet of metal 2 between the turned-up ends of sheet l, and curving it over the prepared wooden Iilling I bring its edges to meet the edges of sheet l, when I solder or otherwise secure the two sheets together at both ends and both edges and remove the surplus metal of the turnedup ends of sheet 1. I thus have a plate of a truss form in cross-section, possessing the requirements of little thickness, light weight, great rigidness, and durability.

In operation I spread aleaf of the copyingbook C upon the curved or crowning face of plate A, and dampen this leaf as by any of the ordinary methods. I then place the sheet to be copied upon and facing the dampenedleaf, and, if desired, place on top of the same a sheet of Water-proof material, on which I dampen another leaf and place a second sheet to be copied, and in the same manner other leaves and sheets to be copied toa reasonable number, when I place the plate B in the book, facing its curved or crowning face toward the like face of its fellow plate A, when I close the book and apply bodily power, preferably with the feet, as follows: Laying the book fiat upon thegiioor, I stand upon it, and, by reason of the form of the faces of the rigid plates A and B,I concentrate my entire weight upon a IOO ' frequent intervals.

small area of the sheet to be copied at a time where the surface of plate A most nearly approaches the surface of plate B. I now shift my weight from one foot to the other, back and forth, and by a rocking motion I apply my entire weight to each and all parts of the sheet or sheets being copied in detail and at I thus obtain a closer contact than is possible Where equal poweris applied to a plane surface of the full size of the sheet being copied, besides which this rocking motion tends to drive from the center outward anysurplus air or moisture which would hinder or destroy perfect contact and pressure, rendering the preserved copy either rocking motion. When so used alone, it would, however, be desirable that the extent of the `prominence of the raised face of A above a;

plane should be greater than Would be necessary where it could divide the extent of the necessary prominence with its fellow plate B. f I do not restrict myself to the exact form ofj faces of these plates A and B, as it is evident that a great variety of forms of faces would i I simply deem it necessary that in operation they be rigid, and that onone side, facing' the sheet being copied, they be slightly raised from a plane face at` serve the same purpose.

or near their center. I do not claim these plates as attached in any way to the cover or" covers of copying-books, as I have made covers, substantially as these would then become,

the subject-matter for my previous patent.

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is fully stated in the following claims, viz:

1. For use with copying-books, the looselyinserted press-plates A and B in pairs, each plate being rigid in itself, and each having its face adjacent to its fellow plate slightly raised from a plane at or near its center, for the purpose substantially as described and shown.

2. For use, loosely inserted in copyingbooks, the rigid press-plate A, having its face adjacent to the matter being copied slightly raised from a plane at or near its center, substantially as described and shown.

3. For use, loosely inserted in copyingbooks, the rigid press-plate A, having its face adjacent to the matter being copied slightly raised from a plane at or near its center and being constructed of metal, serving the double purpose of a water-proof sheet in the copying-book and a press-plate for obtaining copies, substantially as described and shown.

4. For use, loosely inserted in copyingbooks, the rigid press-plate B, Figs. 2 and 3, constructed with a thin sheet of metal l, forming a plane face for such plate and having the ends of said sheet turned up integral therewith, in combination with a second sheet of thin metal 2, fitted between such turnedup ends of sheet l and curved over an intermediate-formed filling of wood, providing a curved face for such plate, both sheets l and 2being secured together at both ends and both edges and surplus metal removed, substantially as and for the purpose described and shown.

HENRY M. UNDERVOOD.

Witnesses:

N. A. LoUGH, F. THOMPSON. 

